Fourth Grade

Students are expected to assume more responsibility for their own work and become more independent in the fourth grade. Science and Social Studies become daily subjects in grade 4 and a major shift from learning to read to reading to learn occurs. An outline of the 4th grade curriculum is provided below.

Reading

Our fourth grade reading program is balanced between reading both fiction and non-fiction pieces of literature. The skills are reviewed and reinforced throughout the school year by using a variety of resources including articles, short stories and novels for whole class and smaller literature circle groups. Reading skills that are learned and practiced at school are expected to be reinforced at home through student’s weekly reading homework.

Language Arts

Students continue using Words Their Way for spelling in grade 4. This word study program is closely tied to reading instruction so it helps to develops students' abilities in phonics, word recognition, and in vocabulary. Students will get extra practice at home with writing sentences and choice activities, but should practice their words at home for a weekly spelling quiz. Major units of study in grammar include the sentence, nouns, verbs, adjectives, capitalization and punctuation, pronouns, and adverbs and prepositions. Formal grammar lessons will be taught in the classroom and children will have an opportunity to practice the skills after the lesson. Grammar homework will be sent home occasionally to help reinforce skills that were covered in classroom instruction.

Writing

Writing instruction is based on the Lucy Calkins Writing program. Students will explore narrative, opinion, and informative/explanatory writing. The students will also practice writing friendly letters on a regular basis. A large focus for the year will be on mechanics, spelling and proper paragraph structure. Cursive handwriting is also reviewed in grade 4.

Curriculum Units in 4th grade science include Development and Change of Earth and Its Materials, The Effects of Force and Motion, Life in an Ecosystem, and The Earth, Sun and Moon. Children in grade 4 observe, describe, and interact with the world around them. At the fourth grade level, science will be integrated with other curricular areas (reading, writing, math, social studies, technology, art, music and physical education).

Social Studies

Fourth Grade Social Studies Curriculum Units include Regions of the United States, New Hampshire, and World Holiday studies. Civics and Government, Economics, Geography and US and NH History will be covered in these units. We use the Harcourt Social Studies book, States and Regions, as a reference for our units. There will be open book quizzes and both in-class and home projects throughout the year. At the fourth grade level social studies will be integrated with the other curricular areas (reading, writing, math, science, technology, art, music, and physical education).